Hong Kong protests: security minister calls police watchdog report ‘balanced’ and says public should read it for themselves before jumping to conclusions

Secretary for Security John Lee points to criticism of officers in 999-page study as evidence of fairness

He has hit out at ‘biased’ allegations and says he will lead first meeting into reviewing report’s 52 recommendations

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Secretary for Security John Lee has outlined the next steps for adopting the recommendations made by the police watchdog. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 3:35pm, 20 May 2020Updated: 11:48pm, 20 May 2020

Hong Kong’s security chief has urged the public to read the police watchdog’s report into the anti-government protests for themselves, and not be misled by “biased” allegations.

Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu said he believed the Independent Police Complaints Council’s study was balanced as he outlined the next steps for adopting its 52 recommendations.

Lee said he would lead next week’s first meeting of a task force to consider improvements that could be made – including a review of the force’s operational command structure, more training for officers, clear guidelines on the use of weapons, and a separate task force to advise on the frequent use of tear gas.

But critics have attacked the 999-page report, with opposition politicians and human rights groups accusing the IPCC of a whitewash after it concluded there was no systemic problem with policing in the city, and said any use of force was only in response to violence during the protests.

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“Some of the criticism [from the public], I think, was misleading and biased,” Lee said. “The report criticised the police as well as hooligans and rioters. It is a fair reflection of facts that appeared in front of us in the past 10 months. Its transparency is beyond comparison.”

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